Baby Cousins

Melody Ann Mbuga was born on February January 22.  She is Camera's first baby.  She came for a visit when we had a baby shower for Emily.  She visited again after Emily had her babies,  Emily had twin baby girls on April 9th.  Rylee Carisa Barnes and Raygan Casey Barnes.  The kids love to hold the babies!

Melody and Hannah - March

Melody and Cameron -  March

Melody and Hannah - April

Melody and Christian - April

Riley and Hannah - early May

Hannah and Raygan; Cameron and Rylee - late May

Christian and Rylee; Hannah and Raygan

Birthday/Mother's Day

This year my birthday was on Mother's Day.  And for my gift, Chuck too the kids backpacking.  They left Friday after school and come home Sunday just before dinner.  On Friday night, I got a facial.  On Saturday, I went to a yoga workshop and to dinner with Charity and my mom.  And I, of course, did some work around the house.  The time was much enjoyed and appreciated!

 

Life with Lice

Miss Hannah Grace was not feeling well and did not attend school Tues-Thurs, the second to last week of school.  She went to school on Friday and as I was getting ready to take Christian and his friend Davis to the zoo, I got a call from the school asking me to come pick up Hannah because she has lice.  A teacher saw the lice crawling on her head.  She had mentioned once that her head itched, but I really didn't think much of it.  She was sick, feverish and sweaty and I didn't notice any excessive scratching.  But when I walked in to pick her up, I too, saw the lice.  Which is weird to actually see them.  Needless to say, we did not go to the zoo, but to Walgreens instead to pick up some lice shampoo.  I brought her right home, did and did the treatment.  A friend called me and said to put olive oil in her hair.  So before she left to go backpacking for the weekend, I saturated her hair with olive oil.  Chuck was not at all concerned that she had lice and took her camping.  So, I spent much of my birthday and Mother's day weekend washing sheets and towels, bagging up stuffed animals and pillows, vacuuming etc.  When H got  home on Sunday her hair was seriously greasy and after we washed it, it was still greasy, but everything looked good.  We were told on Friday by the health aid to have her check in before she went to class.  And this is how the rest of the battle went...
Monday - Chuck took her to the health aid and she found lice with the help of the Robi Comb.  He brought Hannah home.  The district policy is that can't attend school if there are living lice.  He went and bought a Robi Comb.  I washed her hair, now all the oil was gone, and picked out nits.  I used the Robi Comb.
Tuesday - After using the Robi Comb, I took Hannah to the health aid and waited for an hour to be seen and wondered why so many kids were going to the health aid when school had just started. She found lice but I argued whether or not they were live. She called her district supervisor and once again, she was sent home. 
Wednesday - After using the Robi Comb, I took Hannah to health aid and for the fourth day, she was sent home.  By now, Hannah was in tears and I was pissed.  I put a call into the health department.  I put a call into our pediatrician and had her nurses call me back immediately.  She basically said I had done everything I could do and they should not be keeping her out of school according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.  I looked up the American Academy of Pediatrics position paper and which says once children are treated, they should not be kept from attending school and that there is little risk of contagion in the school setting.  I composed an email to the district nurse which included that information and sent it to her and the principal. 
Thursday- after using the Robi Comb, Hannah was sent to school and told by me to go straight to class.  The health aid did call her into her office to check, but sent her back to her classroom.  I did receive a call back from the Health Department who said the same things the Pediatric nurse did.  I sent a quick email with that info to the district nurse and encouraged them to do their research and consider evaluating  their policy.

Happy 9th Birtday Cameron!

Cameron turned 9 on May 2nd.  I checked Cameron out of school during his recess/lunch and took him to lunch.  We ate at The Habit, one of his favorite restaurants.  The father & sons campout was that night, so after school, he, Chuck and Christian headed there.  We had family (and neighbors) dinner on Sunday.  He requested hamburgers and red velvet cake.  His birthday present was his racing bike, which he got early.  He told me that the racing bike was from dad and I could get him a ping pong table.  He did NOT get a ping pong table.  He was lucky that Grannie Annie was here during his celebration.  She bought him Legos.  C loves Legos!  He also got some from our neighbors.  He got money from Mama and Papa and he used that along with his allowance he's been saving up to buy a pogo stick.  He has been asking for one, but I've been telling him he needs to save up for it.  We had some time the other day, so I took him to the store to buy one.  Christian had fallen asleep in the car, so I told C to go in and buy one himself.  I was parked close enough to the door that I could stand inside and still see Christian in the car.  C took forever to pick out his pogo stick.  And when he got to the register, I asked if he'd chosen the most expensive one.  He said no.  But it rang up over $50!  Seems pretty expensive to me.  But apparently, it was regularly $70 and was on sale.  He tried it out when we got home and couldn't get it to "work".  I said maybe we needed to do something first, so I looked at the box.  The pogo stick was for ages 9+ and 70 lbs +.  C does not weight 70 pounds.  I got on it for a second to try it out and C says, "You'd better put on a helmet."  I told him it works fine he just isn't big enough.  But he gave it a try and said, "I'd better put on a helmet."  I don't think he's jumped on it since that first day.  C loves to acquire things and he has expensive taste.  But the excitement doesn't last long; which is why I make him pay for a lot of things on his own.  In addition to his acquisition problem, here's a little bit more about C at age 9.  He still complains a lot about school, but the complaints have lessened the last couple of months.  His responsibilities at home are taking out the recycling and mowing the lawn.  He does a great job at both and hardly needs reminded to take out the recycling.  But he does not enjoying mowing the lawn so much.  Especially the back yard where he has to maneuver around a big tree with low branches.  I occasionally ask the kids to help clean up and C's reaction would make you believe it's the end of the world.  C loves to watch TV and play on the computer, but he also loves to shoot hoops and ride his bike.  He also likes to read and be read to.  We have been reading the 39 Clues series together and he has been reading the Lord of the Rings with Chuck.  But don't ask him to write a paragraph about what he read. Again, the end of the world!  C is active in Cub Scouts and is already talking about his Eagle project.  C has been taking piano lessons, but he does not want to continue.  He plays very well and catches on quickly.   He never complains about going to lessons, but he doesn't like to practice.  He wants to play the guitar.  However, he got a Ukulele for Christmas that he never touches.  Again, it's all about acquiring things.  At age 9, Cameron is 4 ft 5 inches tall and is weighing in at 64 pounds.  We love C and are looking forward to having him around for another year!

Easter

LEGOLAND

Everyone always talks about how fun LEGOLAND is.  But also, that you have to go when your kids are the right ages.  Not too young, not too old.  So, I figured 8,6 and 4 would be the perfect ages for our kids.  When I told Chuck I wanted to go to LEGOLAND, he said something to the affect of "No way.  Count me out."  As I've mentioned a time or two, Chuck believes that we have 6 kids.  The 3 devils that exists when their mom is around; that's me.  And the 3 angles that exist when their dad is around; that's Chuck.  So when he said, "No way."  I said, "Listen, we are going to have miserable family vacations just like everyone else!"  So, because Daddy always does what Mommy tells him to, as the kids would say, Chuck planned a short trip to LEGOLAND.  And to our AMAZEMENT, we had an absolutely amazing time.  For some reason, it was the three angles who decided to show up even though their mom was there.  We left on a Thursday morning and drove to Carlsbad, CA.  The kids watched movies (which included The Sound of Music which I think is weird for kids to like) in the car and did not fight one bit.  We checked into the hotel which was very nice with very nice employees.  We played in the pool and hot tub and walked to dinner.  Everyone slept great except for me.  I slept okay.  It was the occasional kangaroo kick from Hannah that kept waking me up.  After a impressive hotel breakfast, we headed to LEGOLAND.  We stayed from when the gates opened to when they closed.  We rode most everything, some more than once or twice.  The kids did not hesitate getting on anything.  They loved the rollercoasters although Christian was still a little too short for most of them.  The first 3 rides we went on, especially the third, had rather ridiculously long lines.  But after that, the lines weren't bad.  For the whole day, the kids did not ask to buy anything!  I encouraged them to play a game, but I chose one where they were guaranteed to win something.  They enjoyed that and wanted to play more games, but priced at around $6 a game, I only let them do the one.  Hannah did want to get her face painted, but at $13, I told her it wasn't the best use of her money.  The last ride of the day totally soaked us, so we headed back to the hotel and Chuck went out to get dinner.  Again, everyone slept great that night and I managed to get a bed to myself.  On Saturday, we had breakfast, packed up and headed to the Sea Life Aquarium which was incredibly cool.  We stayed about an hour and finished just in time for LEGOLAND to open.  We rode all the rides we hadn't done yet and some of the ones we had.  Then the kids insisted on going to the water park despite the clouds, low temperature and breeze.  Christian didn't make it too long before cuddling up in Chuck's lap and falling asleep.  Cameron and Hannah played for about an hour before I said it was time to go.  They did not put up in fuss.  I think they were too cold to.  We made our last stop the gift shop where I let the kids buy something.  Christian found something right away, a lego set.  Cameron took a little longer but finally settled on a lego play mat and Hannah had our only fit of the trip when I encouraged her (but did not forbid) her to buy a stuffed dog.  I told her that I imagined her buying something that would represent LEGOLAND.  Not a stuffed do when we already have so many stuffed animals.  She unhappily settled on a shirt that said LEGOLAND.  We grabbed some lunch and headed home.  Again, the kids watched movies on the way home, which included The King and I (wierdos).  We got home late, so they did fall asleep for the last hour or so.  Chuck and I never imagined we'd have such a pleasant time.  I am so glad we did it.

they weren't kidding when they said you'd get wet on this ride

this is why I don't like to sleep with H

A few Kodak moments to share

shopping at Trader Joe's - wearing a ninja turtle mask

sisters

brothers

this is what happens when someone is begging mom to play with them while she's cooking dinner
 

San Tan Racing's Newest and Youngest Member

Cameron thought he'd have to wait another year to start racing, but this year the racing age was lowered to 9, so once we found this out, he started racing.  And of course, he got a new racing bike. His bike was not ordered until Tuesday and we did not think it would be delivered by the race on Saturday.  But at 8:30pm, there was a knock on the door.  It was UPS.   So, Daddy got to stay up late to put it together and C got a surprise in the morning.  He was able to race 2 criteriums before the end of the season.

 

1st place
(there wasn't much competition)

3rd place
(as you can see the competition was a little older)

a chocolate cake for 3rd place